Jan. 11, 2021

The Sioux Falls building permit annual record just got beat in a big way.

Permits for 2020 totaled more than $919.6 million, up from the previous record of $786.6 million set in 2018. In 2019, the total was more than $771.4 million.

“To set a record this year speaks to the resiliency of our City and represents our confidence in the future,” said Jeff Eckhoff, director of planning and development services. “I am extremely proud of our staff who, with the rest of the community, worked under unique, and often difficult, conditions to get the job done.”

The biggest increase for 2020 was in new commercial construction, driven by Amazon’s more than $200 million project. The total for new commercial work was $488.4 million, up from $332.5 million in 2019.

New residential construction also ended the year up at $249 million, compared with $215.6 million in 2019. That includes 742 single-family homes, up from 634 one year ago.

Multifamily construction, which counts as commercial, included 1,571 units, up considerably from 643 last year.

Residential additions and remodeling projects were about the same as the year before at $63.4 million, compared with $64.5 million in 2018.

Commercial expansions and remodeling totaled $118.8 million, down from $158.8 million the prior year.

The big drops in commercial construction, not surprisingly, came in office, institutional and education projects as well as strip malls, hotels and restaurants. Those two categories combined totaled about $85 million, compared with nearly $155 million in the prior year.

Four out of the top five largest projects by value permitted in 2020 are apartments:

1. Amazon, 6700 N. Marion Road, $218,181,988.
2. Westview Heights Apartments, 2200 S. Ellis Road, $27,389,138.
3. The Flats at Prairie Point, 4400 W. 35th St. North, $22,127,633.
4. Pinnacle Pointe Apartments, 4001 W. 54th St. North, $18,800,000.
5. Aspen Heights Condos, 1000 N. Holbrook Ave., $17,000,000.

The city’s record year might not hold up too long, though. The new food production plant announced by CJ Foods today is estimated to approach $500 million.

Asian food production facility valued at up to $500 million coming to Sioux Falls